


Why Don't You Talk to Each Other

by thesometimeswarrior



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Steven Universe: The Movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 19:32:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20569694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: He sighs. “Pearl...Pearl really was aslave, wasn’t she?”Greg, Pearl, and growing past awkward conversations.





	Why Don't You Talk to Each Other

**Author's Note:**

> Something I really loved about the movie is the subtle way it really showed that Greg and Pearl are friends now. And this piece has been on my mind since the movie aired!
> 
> Title from the song "Both of You," from the episode _Mr. Greg._

A few days after the Diamonds swoop-in like a big, welcome, _deus-ex-machina_ from one of those cartoons he used to watch in the eighties, Greg finds himself sitting in the back of his van with his son—who is currently taking a break from literally kissing life back into their town—as they both casually strum on their guitars. 

“_Helllooo_? Daaad?”

He looks up. “Huh? Sorry, Schtu-Ball. Must have zoned out there for a sec.”

“I asked if you were okay. You’ve been really quiet today.” 

“Oh, um, yeah! Just been thinking is all...”

“About what?” 

“Oh, it’s nothing really! No big deal...”

“_Daaaddd_!”

“Okay fine.” He sighs. “Pearl...Pearl really was a _slave_, wasn’t she?” 

Steven sets down his guitar, stares at it as he lays it on his lap. “Yeah.”

“I didn’t...Ruby mentioned it, ya know, when we all found out the truth about your mom a few years back. But I didn’t really realize what that meant...until that rubbery Gem—Spinel?—did that whole reset thing, and she thought she was _my_ slave!”

“Yeah, it’s...bad. Homeworld _before_ was…bad. For everyone, really, but especially for Gems like Pearl. And it was really hard to see her like that the other day. But...it sorta makes me appreciate how far she managed to come, ya know? Mostly on her own.” 

“So much more makes sense now.” Greg leans back, portends to admire the old paneling on the ceiling. “How attached she was to your mom back in the day, and everything...”

“Yep.” 

“Think I should talk to her?” 

“Well,” Steven considers. “It seems like you guys have been getting along really well, lately, and you always taught me that things are better on the outside than bottled up on the inside, right?”

“That’s true.” Greg grins, despite himself, and reaches over to ruffle his son’s hair. “When did you become so wise, Schtu-Ball?” 

“Hey,” Steven smiles, picking up his guitar again. “I learned from the best.”

* * *

In the end, he takes Steven’s advice. 

It’s slightly easier to find Pearl than it might have been, given that everyone’s cooped up in Little Homeworld. Well, technically, the Gems—that is, _his_ Gems, the _Crystal_ Gems, the _Original_ Crystal Gems, anyway—don’t need to be there; they’d have been fine living in the Temple. But given all the human residents of the town—and its one half-human resident—had had to relocate, and the Gems who lived in Little Homeworld were working so hard to graciously host them, it seemed like a good show of solidarity—or so Amethyst had explained. Not to mention, with Steven forced to temporarily live there, it seemed better not to break up the family. But that means that Pearl, elusive when she wants to be, has fewer places to hide out, especially if she’s trying to stay nearby to show solidarity rather than Warping away.

Greg eventually locates her in a field just outside of the settlement, practicing forms with her sword. She blushes blue when she sees him, lowers the weapon in her hand as she half-turns toward where he’s standing. “Oh! Um…Greg!” 

And then she hears what she’s just said, how exactly she’d phrased it. Her cheeks spike from light blue to deep teal, and she looks away in apparent embarrassment. 

Greg can understand why. (_My UmGreg Universe!_)

“So…” He grips the back of his neck. “You…uh…remember all of that, huh?”

Pearl doesn’t turn to look at him. “I didn’t, initially, but it returned to me in waves.” She sighs. “I’m…sorry you had to see me that way.”

“_You’re_ sorry?! Pearl, _I’m_ sorry! I’m sorry you felt like you had to _serve_ me or whatever…That must have been really—”

“Please, Greg, I don’t want to discuss this.”

“I know.” He tentatively takes a step toward her and lays a hand on her shoulder. “But we gotta. We spent too many years avoiding each other because there were things we both didn’t want to talk about, and we can’t go back to that.”

“I…Fine.” She sighs, turning back toward him. “What is it that would you like to know?”

“No, nothing, I just…it must have been really hard for you.”

“But that’s precisely it!” It seems to burst out of her. She lowers herself to the ground, and Greg follows suit. “It _wasn’t_ hard at all…it was so _easy!_ So _natural_. Like it was two years ago when we returned to Homeworld. And I hadn’t really thought about this since then, but…I wonder… I sometimes _worry_, if despite it all…if underneath everything…that Gem remains who I really am.” 

“It’s not. I mean, c’mon Pearl. You’re the _boss_, remember? As long as I’ve known you—”

“But that’s who I was _built_ to be!”

“So? I was supposed to be Gregory DeMayo, not Greg Universe: rockstar-turned-alien-groupie, and yet here we are…”

“It’s _different_, Greg.”

“_Is_ it? Look, I know Rose always thought that you guys couldn’t grow—that Gems were just who they were made to be forever—but don’t you know by now that you _can_? I mean, weren’t you all just singing about it a few days ago?”

“Well, _yes_, but…that Pearl…that servile _being_…I…what if…I mean…she must still be a part of me.”

“Of _course_ she’s still a part of you!” Greg exclaims, and when Pearl’s startled face shoots up in bewilderment, he continues. “I mean, all the people we’ve ever been, they all stay a part of us, right? But so does the fact that we grew to be someone else, especially when we had to work at it.” He pauses. “Pearl, you worked so hard to get to where you are now—it didn’t just, like, _happen_. You worked, and you cried, and you struggled—and that’s all part of you too! I’d know—I was there for a lot of it! Heck, for a lot of it, I _was_ the struggle!”

She blushes again. “You’re…I…I don’t think I ever truly _apologized_ for the way I treated you, then. I was unfair to you, and I…Greg, I’m sorr—”

He raises a hand. “Don’t be.”

“But—”

“I mean, yeah, it kinda sucked. But, if I remember right, I wasn’t exactly entirely innocent either. Besides…after seeing you the other day, I get it better now. What Rose was to you. I mean…I always knew you _loved_ her, but…it wasn’t _only_ about that. There was…_more_ going on.” 

“I…” she sighs. “I suppose there was.”

Greg creases his eyebrows as he attempts to decode her face. “But you _did_ love her, Pearl. I mean, what you two had was _real_. You know that, right? Even if it started because of your programming or whatever…it wasn’t _only_ that. _You_ made it more. And ya know…” Another, brief pause. “Maybe the part of you that is…ya know…what you were built for…maybe that’s what makes it so easy for you to love. Not just Rose, but also Steven, and the rest of the Gems…” He glances away, grips his neck again. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Overstepping, and all that…”

“No,” Pearl replies. “I…I've never thought about it that way. Thank you, Greg.” Now _she_ pauses. “As much as I’ve discovered about myself the past several years, as much as I’ve grown…I suppose I still have so much more growing to do.” 

“Don’t we all?” Greg grins at her. “I mean, isn’t that what Steven’s been saying the past few days? We can _always_ grow more. All of us. I guess that’s what it means to _alive_, ya know?”

“Yes.” _Alive._ She returns his smile. “I suppose it is.”

“Well,” he says after a silent moment, standing. “I guess you wanna get back to your sword training—I’ll see ya later, okay?”

“Actually,” Pearl follows him to her feet. “What would you say if I wanted to continue my study of the bass right now?”

“You’re the boss!”

And, grinning even wider, he reaches toward the back of his van to retrieve the guitars.

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a quote once that said something to effect of: "The hardest person to love is the person you used to be, from whom you worked so hard to change." That was a big inspiration here, I think.
> 
> In any case, I hope you enjoyed! I love comments!


End file.
